Bonjour! Bonjour!
How is everyone? As usual this week seemed pretty normal and hoh-hum, but I look back and realize there is always something to report. Transfer email came out...and I get a fourth transfer in Paris!! With Soeur Williams!!! Yes I get to stay with my beloved gimpy (that is my nickname for her)...she may not walk as much as others but I sure love her! We will just say there was some squeeling and joyful screeches in the internet café when we read the transfer email. In fact...pretty much our entire zone stayed the same so Im expecting that this transfer will kind of just feel like a long extension of the last one...well you know except better and busier because dreadful vacances are starting to end!!!
This week we also had our second exchanges of the transfer...there are an odd number of sister-villes so to make sure everyone got to do an exchange an equipe from northern France came down and stayed in our apartment and we worked with three equipes in Paris for the day. I worked with a sister who was in Paris before...so its was good to ask her about some of the people we've never been able to contact and stuff. It was also very wierd to go through the metros with someone who walks at normal pace (thats not a complaint...remember I called her my BELOVED gimpy) just I felt a little whimpy for having a hard time keeping up. Well president knew what he was doing when he kept Soeur Williams and I together - Gimpy and Whimpy...we make a good team :)
This week in english class we taught our students the names of countries in English. We then had everyone say where they were born...it was pretty cool to see that we had every continent represented ( well minus Antartica...but really why does that one count anyways?) Sometimes I still have thoughts cross my mind like ' How did I, girl from small town Canada, end up in Paris teaching an english class to people from all over the world.' And yes I may or may not have taken advantage of having a captive audience and bragged about how pretty my home is ( and I figured if I drew a map of Canada and showed them how far away Vancouver is from Montréal maybe they would stop asking me why I have an english accent and not a Québécois accent). This Sunday we had another 'missionary concert' and it was cool to see how three months ago our chapel was basically empty for the first concert...and this time it was overflowing! We already have had a couple of baptism/amis in the Paris area come from the concerts ...pretty cool to see how the Lord uses peoples talents to bring them the gospel.
Soeur Williams and I have been experiencing our own little miracles. This week we have recieved FIVE refferals (I know I know...all of you who served your missions in South America are laughing because thats like nothing to you...but in France that means something!) One of the referrals, named Marcellina, came into the visitor's center on Wednesday night and we gave her a tour and explained the Book of Mormon. Oddly enough, as we were talking with her tons of people decided to wander into the visitor's center just then, so I left Soeur Williams to keep talking with Marcellina while I talked to the other people. When I came back they were watching a clip by Elder Uchtdorf in Russian (she is from Poland and can understand Russian). We finished talking with her and set an appointment for this week and then she left. Soeur Williams then ran back over the kiosk and told me that she had explained to Marcellina that we believed in a modern prophet and she had wanted to see the prophet. Unfortunately, Soeur Pearce and I discovered that showing people President Monson's clip isnt the best because its more a history of the Book of Mormon rather than a testimony. So Soeur Williams had just clicked on a random clip and had no idea what she had just shown Marcellina because it had been in Russian. Well we watched it in English and turns out it was perfect! She is very believing and Elder Uchtdorf's testimony was all about Christ and His role in our lives. Tender mercies...tender mercies.
Anne Sophie continues to do well. This week we were reviewing the gospel and we asked her to repeat the five points of the gospel (faith, repentance, baptisim, the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end) Well she got stuck on baptism so I did a hand motion to show someone being baptized and she guessed 'going to bed?'. Haha I wish sleeping was a principle of the gospel! She was also very cute as she thought we had finished the 'new member lessons', she asked if it was alright if we kept meeting and if when we have someone she could come teach with us...Ill understate how excited I was that she wanted to teach with us by just saying that we were ok with that idea. I wonder if amies every know how much we truly care for them, love them, pray for them...stress over them...and get ridiculously excited for them when they show growth in the gospel...hmmm. If only they knew...but then there are moments when I know it goes both ways... A couple of weeks ago I was appologizing to Anne Sophie for my horrible voice messages I leave her, and she said 'its ok, I always know its you' and I replyed 'oh because of my horrible french' and she said 'no...because I know your voice.'
Tender n'est-ce pas??
Oh and I almost forgot. Mom- congratulations you made it a third of the way there!!! haha This week I hit my six month mark! Pretty crazy...I don't really remember life before the mission...and I can't really picture a life after the mission. I wish I had some wisdom to share from thus far in the mish. But I think longer and longer Im a missionary I kind of just realize how many faults I have (trust me... the list goes on and on) and how much wisdom I lack. But Ive also kind of realized that that's ok! Im trying my hardest...and the Lord truly makes up the rest (like inspiring women to walk into church, sending five referrals our way, and giving me a companion that thinks Im funny when I get stir crazy in the apartment). I dont really know how to sum up what Ive learned in the past six months...so I just won't. Just trust me when I say I know now more than ever how important the gospel is. How it really is the only way to feel true happiness. I know that this is Christ's restored church and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary. For now, Ill just keep you guys in suspense and save all of my wisdom until my homecoming ;)
Love you tons
Soeur Smith
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